An overview of summer research internship opportunities outside the U.S. appropriate for MB&B majors
By Michael Koelle, Director of Undergraduate Studies, MB&B, Yale University
While the idea of combining a summer laboratory research project with travel to a foreign country seems attractive to many students, the opportunities for a research internship abroad are much more limited than those in the U.S. The fact is that the U.S. has by far the largest and best-funded biomedical research community and thus provides most of the opportunities.
One route would be to directly contact an individual professor at a foreign university or research institution to inquire about the possibility of working in their lab for the summer. If they are interested, they can then inform you about what possibilities exist for obtaining funding, and these will likely vary widely by country and institution.
There are a very small number of organized research internship programs at foreign academic research institutions. A few are listed here:
The Weizmann Institute is one of the world’s premier scientific institutions. Their summer internship program, I am told, provides full funding for Yale undergraduates. This is an opportunity to get a fully funded overseas internship that should also be an outstanding scientific experience. The deadline for the program is quite early: December 31
Live in Paris! The Institut Pasteur is a France’s premier research institution and has a grand history. The internship program provides a $4,000 stipend but not other money for travel or housing. Application deadline for summer 2008 is December 14, 2007.
Links up American Undergraduates with doctoral students in Germany to do a research project. They provide a modest stipend but you have to cover travel and housing costs from other sources.